The premier patent enforcement firm:
Helping holders of U.S. Patents in Europe and around the world enforce their intellectual property rights

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Patent Enforcement Campaign:
Suite of Services

What differentiates General Patent Corporation (GPC) from any other intellectual property organization is the GPC Suite of Services, a package of value-added programs we provide to the patent owners for whom we supervise and finance a patent enforcement campaign. A patent owner does not typically use every service offered, but takes advantage of those services that are applicable to the specific patent owner's needs and who the infringers are.

• Evaluate the Viability of Your Patent Infringement Assertion: It only makes sense to pursue a patent infringement claim if the patent infringement assertion has merit, the patent-at-suit is valid and enforceable, and there are sufficient damages to make the venture financially viable.

• Determine Who Is Infringing the Patent: When a patentee comes to us, he has often identified one company that is infringing its patent. GPC is often able to uncover additional infringers, and the more infringers there are, the more financially viable it becomes to pursue a patent enforcement campaign, and the more profitable it is for the patent owner.

• Minimize the Patent Owner's Risk and Liability: Every patent owner that decides to assert a patent runs the risk of counter-lawsuits from one or more of the infringers. General Patent developed and refined a business model that substantially reduces the patent owner's liability.

• Select and Engage a Law Firm (or Law Firms): Selecting the law firm with the appropriate legal and technological expertise is critical to a successful outcome. When there are multiple infringers, it may be necessary to engage more than one law firm.

• Coordinate and Supervise the Work of the Law Firm(s): General Patent staff attorneys are experienced patent litigators who were previously partners in major law firms and/or managed corporate legal departments. They have litigated and supervised many patent infringement lawsuits. We actively participate in devising an optimal litigation strategy, we are involved in day-to-day tactical decisions, and we review and contribute to all legal filings.

• Provide Strategic Direction: Before a patent infringement lawsuit is filed with the court, several critical decisions need to be made, such as which court location will be most favorable to the plaintiff, which infringer should be sued first (if there are several infringers), and whether to file in a federal court or before the ITC (International Trade Commission), or both.

• Manage Reexamination of the Patent: If the patent-at-suit is forced into reexamination – or, we may decide to put the patent into reexamination to eliminate validity issues and create a stronger patent – General Patent manages the entire process, including engaging a patent attorney or patent agent to defend the patent before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and paying for the process.

• Manage Continuation(s) or Divisional(s): If the client has a pending U.S. patent application, General Patent may recommend that a continuation or continuations-in-part (CIP) of the parent patent be filed with the Patent Office. Or we might file for a divisional that will result in more than one patent being issued. This could result in the issuance of additional U.S. Patents containing different claims. These additional U.S. Patents with their new claims could create additional licensing and enforcement opportunities. GPC engages a patent attorney to process these and pays all costs associated with these filings.

• Underwrite All Litigation Expenses: Among all civil litigation, patent infringement is second in cost only to anti-trust litigation. General Patent covers all of the expenses incurred in litigating a lawsuit.

  • Filing Fees: These can run into the thousands of dollars, especially if there are multiple defendants.

  • Travel Costs: These can be substantial, especially if fact-witnesses are scattered all over the country or, worse yet, all over the world, which is often the case with multi-national infringers. If the inventor or patent owner has to travel the U.S., we cover the travel costs.

  • Depositions: Witnesses need to be questioned by the attorneys litigating the case prior to actually testifying in court. This is part of the process known as "discovery." These depositions must be recorded by a court-stenographer and transcribed to produce a written document. We sometimes also videotape depositions of important witnesses, which can be expensive.

  • Expert Witnesses: Every patent lawsuit requires technical experts who testify on the questions of infringement and validity, plus damages experts who testify on the issues of damages and reasonable royalties. Some cases require additional experts, such as licensing experts who testify about licensing practices, and patent experts who respond to questions about Patent Office procedures and inequitable conduct.

  • Trial Demonstratives: Many cases settle before they reach trial, but we never count on this happening. Well before the trial is scheduled, we prepare demonstratives that can include audio-visual presentations, videos, charts, graphs and diagrams. In addition, scale models, prototypes, props and displays will be used to illustrate infringement and drive home important points for the jury.

  • Jury Consultants: When a lot of money is at stake, nothing is left to chance. It has become increasingly more common in recent years for litigators to rely on jury consultants to help them select jurors who will be sympathetic to their client and their client's claims.

  • Mock Jury Trials: Mock jury trials are essentially dress rehearsals. The jury consultant goes to the city in which the trial will take place and hires "jurors" from the same pool of people from which the actual jury will be selected. The attorneys try the case before the hired jurors to test out their arguments and the effective of the trial demonstratives.

  • Reexaminations and Continuations: If the patent goes into reexamination, or if we file for a continuation or divisional of the patent, General Patent pays for a patent attorney to process them before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

• Supervise Settlement Negotiations: While General Patent and the attorneys we engage to litigate each lawsuit are prepared to take the lawsuit to trial, many lawsuits never make it to trial. Instead, the defendant decides to settle before going to trial in what is known as an "out-of-court settlement." General Patent's three decades of experience in negotiating the settlement of patent infringement cases is unmatched.

• Manage Licensing Negotiations: We use the term "patent licensing and enforcement" because General Patent does not always have to go to court to secure compensation for our clients. When there are multiple infringers, it is not uncommon for us to file a patent infringement lawsuit against two or three infringers. Once we win or settle with one or two defendants, we may be able to negotiate licenses with the other infringers without having to file lawsuits against each and every one of them. For a current client, Digital Technology Licensing (DTL), we secured 41 licenses!

• Monitor Royalty Payments: Once we have turned the infringers into licensees, General Patent monitors all licensees to make sure they pay all royalties in a timely manner on all licensed products for the remaining life of the patent.

• Maintain the Patent(s): General Patent also ensures that our clients' U.S. Patents are properly maintained and all fees are paid so the patent remains in force over its full term.

While not every client needs all of these services, those specific services that a client needs are available at no charge as part of the comprehensive patent enforcement campaign that GPC supervises and finances on behalf of the patent owners it represents. If you believe your U.S. Patent has been infringed, complete an Enforcement Analysis Request. There is no charge for our analysis, and the service is confidential.